The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant centaurea by looking at the USDA zone info for Independence.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

Frost tolerance for centaurea:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant centaurea just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Independence is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant centaurea and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your centaurea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your centaurea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Independence. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Independence is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Independence it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your centaurea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Independence

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Independence.